


tell me i'm a wreck (wait, i already knew that)

by radiowrittenheart



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Awkwardness, Episode Tag, Exes, Feel-good, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Language, Oneshot, it's gonna be okay, references to pop culture, set after "Mr. Candle Cares"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 22:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8031307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiowrittenheart/pseuds/radiowrittenheart
Summary: Tom should have known that shooting for the stars was an impossible feat. Star should have realized they should have never became something they weren't.So, they talk it out.





	tell me i'm a wreck (wait, i already knew that)

**Author's Note:**

> i just love tom a whole lot okay  
> and i want him to be friends with star
> 
> SO MR. CANDLE CARES IS EASILY ONE OF MY FAVE EPISODES EVER
> 
> i value their friendship a lot  
> so i wrote this thing xx

He had come back for his skeleton keys; they must have fallen out of his pocket and there was literally nothing worse than being locked out of his own castle.

He had to come back.

He didn’t want to, dammit, but he had to.

Tom had wished— and he did not wish, ever, but this was a different case— it would be quick and easy. No witnesses, no disturbances, just in and out. But of course, nothing was ever that easy for him. He had stumbled out of his carriage, and the second he stepped onto the balcony, Tom felt his black heart drop.

“Star,”

His voice was soft, almost wounded.

She still had the hair dye, and that dumb outfit that she looked ridiculous in. Purple was  _ not _ her color.

“Tom?” Star sounded panicked, almost worried, but her facial expression read something else entirely.

He wasn’t sure what it meant. But lo and behold, what was in her hand?

His keys.

“I, uh—” Tom cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. He was a moron. Why was it always suits and ties with him? “I just came back for those,” He stepped forward, at the same time Star got up. He coughed awkwardly, letting her press the keys into his hand. “Thanks,”

He turned on his heel, just about to run with his tail between his legs.

(Well, not literally. He wasn’t _ that _ kind of demon, thank gods.)

“Hey,” Star piped up. “Um,”

She paused, and only when Tom turned around did she move. She lunged. For a moment, Tom thought, ‘ _ I deserve this _ ’ and braced himself, but then he froze. What was this? He was being hugged. By his ex-girlfriend, the same ex-girlfriend he had been a total jerk to.

“I miss you,” she murmured.

Tom just stood there.

He didn’t react, he didn’t return the embrace, he didn’t do anything.

Then, Star let him go, and cleared her throat. “Can we talk?”

“Talk,” Tom repeated, letting the word become bitter on his tongue. “Yeah, sure. Talk.” He swallowed hard, then gently kicked the baseboard of the wall. “Talk to me, Starship.”

“Tom,”

She said his name as if it was crumbling, shaking—

—then she sighed.

“Only if you want to,” she added. 

“If I want to?” he practically challenged, his voice wobbling. He turned on the balls of his feet, leaning up against the wall. “There’s a lot of things I want, Star.”

She folded her arms, and tried to frown. She was probably under the assumption that’s what she was doing, but really, she was pouting. Tom bit back a smirk at how cute she was— because, no. He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them from firing up.

He slid down, sitting down, and trying to control his breathing.

He was better now, he was almost good—

— _almost_ —

—but never enough, never good enough, never just—

— **_fuck._ **

“I miss you too,” Tom said thickly, slumping up against the wall, head between his knees. “I care about you, too, y’know,” He fingered a hole in the knee of his pants, laughing ruefully. “I guess that’s why I’m acting the way I am.”

Star plopped herself down next to him, placing a hand on his knee. “I get it,” she murmured. “Really, I do.”

He bit his lip. He suppressed a sly comment, a flirty remark— anything that would frustrate her.

“I care about you too, Tom,” she said.

She was twisting the knife. She thought she was making it better, because that was what Star did, and she was so fucking oblivious, and so damn beautiful— so good. Too good for him. What was he doing? Why was he holding on so tight? Why was he shooting for the stars, when everyone knew that was an impossible feat to accomplish?

“That’s why I don’t want to let you go,” Star added.

What.

What the hell.

Of all the times Star had to be … _ Star _ , it was now.

“What are you talking about?” Tom retorted, his tone of voice coming out like a cough.

“Oh, gosh, Tom,” She could probably sense the hurt. Star swallowed hard, sitting with her legs crossed in front of him. “I like you. I always have. I thought you were a cool guy, and so, back when we were thirteen, I tried to make us something we weren’t.”

True. She was the one who asked him out; when the two of them plus Pony Head got kicked out of his cousin’s concert in the Nightosphere.

That same night, him and Star had held hands and shared a milkshake.

Looking back, it was stupid. Sweet, but stupid. After that night, he had grown to care for her.

“But I still think you’re cool,” Star continued. “When you’re not, y’know, setting stuff on fire and trying to make me your demon bride or whatever,”

This got a laugh out of Tom. “Okay, back up,” he said. “The fire thing is a reflex, I can’t control that. And I’ve never asked you to marry me. I mean, yeah, I’m kinda old in demon years, but no. Besides, your parents already hated me for dating you.”

Star’s baby blue eyes crinkled as she smiled. “They never _ hated  _ you,” she scoffed. “My mom just threatened to stick your head on a spear if you broke my heart,”

“Oh, gods,” Tom chuckled, falling back against the wall. “I remember that day. Good ‘ole Moonie wants me dead just ‘cause I’m from the Underworld.”

“Let’s not get into that,” Star giggled.

She paused, twirling a lock of freshly dyed hair around one of her fingers.

Tom felt guilty. He shouldn’t have ever done the things he did. If he loved her, he’d let her go. And was it a stretch to say he loved her? Maybe. He only wanted the best for her— and yes, he was biased because of his damn ego that made him think that  _ he _ was the best.

But he wasn’t. He really wasn’t.

“I’m just lonely, I guess,” Tom admitted. “That’s why I keep showing up and just,” He ran a hair through his pale pink hair, gently tugging on it in frustration. “Doing what it is I do: inviting you to the Blood Moon Ball, flying by your school, kidnapping your new boyfriend. I — I really am sorry, Star.”

“I know you are,” Star assured. “Oh, and, uh—” A blush made the hearts on her cheeks go darker, and she leaned back on her hands. “Marco’s not my boyfriend. Seriously. Why does everyone think that?”

Tom hesitated, then shrugged. “You live together? Monster-slay together? You’re both kinda attached at the hip,” he mumbled. “It’s not completely crazy to assume … stuff,” He swallowed, then looked intently at Star. “You’re not just saying that, are you? Because I’ll get it if you move on,”

“No!” Star blurted out. “I — I mean, yeah, no. No, Marco and I,” She sighed. “I don’t know what we are,”

“That’s fine,” Tom assured. “Curiosity and all,”

“Speaking of Curiosity, how’s she doing? Has she used up all nine of her lives yet?” Star piped up.

Tom’s brow furrowed above his third eye. “How did the conversation go from our relationship to one of my cats?” he said, with a soft laugh of disbelief.

Star gave a sheepish smile, shrugging halfheartedly. “Let’s have our relationship be friendship,” she retorted. “And I’m serious. So let’s be friends and talk about dumb stuff like cats and magic and our feelings.”

A barking laugh escaped Tom, and he gently kicked Star’s foot with his own. “We already took care of that last one,” he said.

“So move onto the other two, you dork,” she replied.

Warmth flooded through Tom— and for once, it wasn’t the urge to set something ablaze.

“Okay,” he said, smiling. Actually, genuinely smiling, smiling so hard it hurt his cheeks. He felt good. He felt some form of happy. “Curiosity is on her seventh life, and she’s doing just fine. I got a new cat too, Schrodinger. He turns invisible a lot. You’d like him. Oh— and one of my sisters gave me one of her kittens. We’re calling it Khoshekh for now. Apparently, they don’t have a gender,”

Star gave a little clap and giggled. Tom thought she was precious, and adorable and—

He knew his feelings would linger. They had something for a little under a year. How could he let her go so easily? She might have moved on, but … 

… but it didn’t matter. He would take what he could get.

Tom grinned, folding his arms over his chest. “So, that’s a bit about me,” he declared. “How’s Earth?”

A gasp escaped Star. “Oh my gosh, you won’t believe how a _ -mazing _ it is! There’s this thing called a T-V and I’m pretty sure it’s magic and no one’s telling me— oh! And Earth food comes in the shape of triangles! And my school is so awesome, everyone is so nice, well, except for Lars, but he’s still okay-ish. Plus I learned how to ride a bike and Mrs. Diaz wants me to call her Angie—”

And there they sat, inches apart on the hardwood floor of her bedroom.

Sometimes Tom listened, and Star talked.

Others, Star would reply and give her input— it was how she listened— and Tom went on.

Either way, it was them, together, they clicked. They clicked the way they should have two years ago. But no one ever said things couldn’t be okay.

Because they were.

They were definitely okay.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated! c:


End file.
